There is no danger from consuming romaine lettuce, health authorities say

"There appears to be an ongoing risk of E. coli infections associated with the consumption of romaine lettuce in Canada's eastern provinces", Canada said on December 28.

It says the likely source of the US outbreak appears to be leafy greens but they haven't identified which type yet. Since CDC's initial media report on the outbreak on December 28, seven more illnesses have been recorded, with the last one starting on December 12, 2017. The CDC says leafy greens are the likely source. Those samples are "closely related genetically" to the STEC O157:H7 strain from ill persons in Canada. There has been one death in California, which was previously reported as connected to the outbreak. States with active outbreaks of the bacteria in question are California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

On Wednesday, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced it was no longer advising the public against eating romaine lettuce. It also warns not to purchase packaged, loose or mixed salads that may have romaine lettuce.

In the US, the FDA, which had not posted any public information about the outbreak until today, is assisting the CDC, but has virtually nothing to report.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration said its outbreak investigation team is working with CDC and state and local officials to determine what ill people ate, where they bought it and the distribution chain - all with the goal of learning where these foods were produced, to see if there is any common food or point where the food might have become contaminated. Because of these reporting delays, more time is needed before CDC can say the outbreak in the United Stated is over. But for each of those people there are probably five to 10 who felt really awful for a day or so and got over it on their own.

While anyone can get sick if they are infected with E. coli 0157:H7, young children, the elderly and anyone who has a condition such as cancer or diabetes that weakens the immune system are at greater risk.

Romaine lettuce might be the culprit of a recent E. coli outbreak, but the CDC says it can't issue the same kind of advisory unofficially sent out by Consumer Reports.

You can protect yourself by washing your hands thoroughly before and after preparing or eating food. Don't buy romaine lettuce and don't use any still be at home until there is more information on the source of contamination.

That brings the total number of cases involving E. coli to 66 in the recent outbreak in the USA and Canada.

If you or a family member became ill with an E. coli infection or HUS after consuming food and you're interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark E. coli attorneys for a free case evaluation. Most people recover from the illness in five to seven days but some develop a severe illness called hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can be fatal.